Recent publications (4) - Striker, the black and white years

My copy of this arrived before Christmas and I haven't had a chance to get my teeth into it yet, so I just wanted to tell you about it in case you were still trying to make your mind up about it.


First up the production value are top notch, this is a heavy hardback book (300+ pages with 5 strips to a page) with high quality paper, a gloss laminated cover and it contains the first 21 stories plus an introduction to the genesis of the strip and a small introduction to each story as you go along.


Anyone used to the CGI images of Nick Jarvis is going to be disappointed by this book; on the other hand anyone who wants to see where it all began (and who can't afford or find the 2 Striker annuals that were released nearly 30 years ago) should be delighted with their purchase. 

One of the original Striker annuals...

and it's on sale here

http://strikerworld.co.uk/pages/shop/

for just £24 (or £29 if you want it signed)

I can't wait for volume 2 - so why not support Pete and his efforts to preserve this bit of newspaper comic strip history?

Recent publications (3) - When Saturday Comes

Issue 360 of When Saturday Comes is now out, this is the February 2017 issue and costs £3.50.
Thought I would just flag it up here because in amongst all the football talk you might expect there's 2 pages dedicated to recent developments in football comics

So Rok of the Reds gets reviewed...

you can keep up to date with all the action over of Rok's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Rok-of-the-Reds-1518059935157279/


Also featured is a new comic from American publisher IDW featuring a fictional West Ham player. I'll certainly be checking this comic out



Barrie Tomlinson's book also gets a fair review



and 'The rise of the Invincibles', the new book about the early days of Preston North End (illustrated by former Roy of the Rovers artist David Sque) also gets a review

Recent publications (2) - Comic heroes - issue 30

Comic Heroes issue 30 (priced £7.99) is now out! This is quarterly issue dated January 2017 (so for January -March 2017).

For the British comics fan there's a lot to enjoy in the current issue..

• Steve Dillon tribute (8 pages)
• 40 years of 2000ad (10 pages)
• Chris Ridell - author/illustrator and political cartoonist (6 pages)
• Commando - 4 pages

As ever with Comic Heroes the font is big, the pictures are bigger and the columns are spread out wide - it certainly helps get you 130 pages and justify the £7.99 price tag, but there's nothing else to compete with it on the newsagents shelves.

Another chance to own Action - the banned issue!

Previously (http://boysadventurecomics.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/action-comic-23rd-october-1976-issue.html) I reported on the sale in October 2016 of the final issue of Action comic (dated 23rd October 1976). That was sold for £4110.75 (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ACTION-BANNED-ISSUE-23rd-October-1976-/361776241756?hash=item543b8b5c5c:g:3MYAAOSw8gVYBln8)


This beat the hammer price of the previous copy (sold in May 2016) for £2555
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Action-comic-23rd-Oct-1976-ULTRA-RARE-ISSUE-30-copies-printed-FN-phil-comics-/271876254428

The starting price this time around is £2,500 and it can be found here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/British-Action-comic-issue-37-Banned-and-Ultra-rare-Excellent-copy-/112265986978?hash=item1a239303a2:g:iSoAAOSwnHZYVx6F






There's plenty of background on the issue itself (and the circumstance behind the previous copy to come up for sale here)
http://downthetubes.net/?p=22473

Recent publications (1) - Eagle Times - new issue now out

The new issue of Eagle Times, the quarterly journal of the Eagle Society (the society is dedicated to the memory of Britain's national picture strip weekly) is now out.

Their blog (http://eagle-times.blogspot.co.uk/) highlights the contents of this issue...

'Christmas with Dan Dare' - a look at how the Christmas festival was recognised, represented and (sometimes) ignored in 'Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future' strips in Eagle and Eagle Annual 

'Martin Aitchison (1919-2016)' - An illustrated short obituary of the artist of 'Luck of the Legion' in Eagle, who became one of Ladybird Books most respected and prolific artists

'PC 49 and the Case of the Tramp's Secret' - a festive PC49 story, based on a story created for radio by Alan Stranks

'A Christmas Wordsearch' - a puzzle, based on Eagle's Christmas issue, 25th December, 1965

'Chicko and Christmas' - Christmas appearances of Norman Thelwell's strip cartoon character, who would appear for twelve years in Eagle and Eagle Annuals 

'He Tried to Stop You Reading Eagle' - an adjunct to the series, 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle', this first part of the story of Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway, covers his early career editing Sun, Comet and Knockout for Amalgamated Press, and originating Top Spot

'The Jetex Dan Dare Space Ship' - on the "Tailored" spaceship model, first marketed as the  Dan Dare Space Ship, which was designed for Wilmot, Mansour & Co. Ltd by Peter Cock in 1953/4, powered by a Jetex 5 oz thrust rocket motor  

'Under the 1950s Christmas Tree' - some of the Eagle and Girl inspired items that might have been received by children as Christmas gifts in the 1950s

'Howard Corn (1943-2016)' - an obituary of the originator and Editor in Chief of Eagle Times, who was also one of its major contributors

'Eulogy for Howard' - the words spoken by Bob Corn at his brother Howard's funeral on 18th November 2016

'In and Out of the Eagle' - some more in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets

'Alien Flora and Fauna in Dan Dare' - on the various plants and creatures that inhabited the worlds of Dan Dare in Eagle

'Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures' - a review of the first set of Dan Dare Audio Adventures from Big Finish and B7 Media

'Enlightening' - a review of the exhibition on comics which is at the Lightbox Gallery in Woking, Surrey, from October to the end of December, 2016, and the talk given by Frank Hampson's son, Peter, on 8th October

'Eric MacKenzie (c.1949-2015) - on the man who started the Dan Dare Club, through a letter to Eagle published in 1964 and would later produce the 'Dan Dire' parody in Comic Media News International in the 1970s and from 2004, in Spaceship Away.

'Remembering All Treens Must Die!' - a relook at 'Dan Dare' strip drawn by Keith Watson that ran in Eagle from June - October, 1964

'Children's Annuals of the 1970s' - a look at some of the children's annuals published in the 1970s, after Eagle's demise, but still in Eagle Annual's times (the original series of Eagle Annual appeared up to 1975)  

'The "New" Bakehouse' - a look  at the former bakehouse that was Eagle's and Dan Dare's first studio and which has recently been renovated 

'Space Quiz' - An illustrated quiz with artwork by former Dan Dare artist and writer Eric L. Eden, which originally appeared in Supercar Annual 

ABC film review - August 1952

From August 1952...

 Harris Tweed by John Ryan (as ever)

Uncredited Wendy and Jinx strip

ABC film review - July 1952

From July 1952

 The PC49 strip is by the classic team of Alan Stranks (script) and art by John Worsley

 Script by George Beardmore, art by "BG" who is actually Bernard Greenbaum

ABC fim review - June 1952

From the June 1952 issue

 Charles Chilton contributes the scripts for both stories this week...

ABC film review - May 1952

ABC film review from May 1952...

 Story by regular story author, Charles Chilton; art is uncredited

 Art & script uncredited

ABC film review - April 1952

The news that the last ever ABC cinema has closed...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-38500616
...causes me to reach for the shelves and show you the scans of Eagle, Girl and Swift stories that appeared in the ABC film review in 1952+53. I've got copies of all the Eagle strips that were reprinted, but I'm not so sure about Girl and Swift, anyway we'll see how we get on

 Signed by John "Captain Pugwash" Ryan

 Unsigned - although the art style reminds me of Norman "Jane" Pett

Centurions Power Xtreme monthly - issue 10

Last issue then, from February 1988 we have...
A Michael Slattery cover...

Tim Perkins art of "The final conflict"

 A US reprint here 'Diplomatic immunity!'

Then this image, which was last seen at the back of issue #9 (ad which I thought would be the cover for this issue) is reproduced but in full cover, signature by Will Simpson visible bottom right...

Then there's a 2 pages text story "Into the sun!" followed by, as the centrespread, the wraparound (Will Simpson) cover from issue 3, before we get into "Skyvault Invasion!" by 'Marshall (who he?)

And the last US reprint (but from where, when and by who I have no idea)...

Centurions Power Xtreme monthly - issue 9

So here we go with the penultimate issue...
Cover is again by Will Simpson (his signature is hiding behind the A in 'breaks')

And the we're straight into the first story, "Peril in the Pacific" - the art style is unfamiliar (so no Tom Perkins or Michael Slattery) - which is odd because they've provided so much of the original material for Centurions so far

But then I just happened to glance at the first panel and I notice that, strangely, there is some graffiti on the building, here's a bigger scan...

So, then I start to consider who would write "McCrea" on this building? Only the artist presumably and the only famous artist, I know, called "McCrea" is John 'Hitman' McCrea. So I check out his Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCrea_(comics)) which says very vaguely... In 1989, after a few years of drawing television and toy tie-ins, he illustrated [Garth] Ennis's debut, the political series Troubled Souls, in Crisis, as well as its sequel, the farce For a Few Troubles More.

Hmmm, so Centurions #9 came out in January 1988 so maybe it is him, so then I google him and drop him an e-mail late on a Friday night. Gent that he is, he comes back almost straight away, and says "...yes that is my work, probably one of my first jobs, and had to be done quickly...I think I had 2 days to do it...and they pasted generic heads over all the main characters, which was a valuable introduction to the world of freelance art.... Only ever did that one story....". So there you have it then Centurions #9 contains John McCrea's first ever professional work.

And after that diversion we're back to a US reprint "Restoration"

 Then Tim Perkins joins in...

 Another US reprint strip...The enemy within

Before we get to what looks like a draft for the cover of the next issue (sadly it won't be used as the cover for issue 10).

Centurions Power Xtreme monthly - issue 8

From issue 8 we again have a diverse selection of artists...
Cover is by Will Simpson (his signature is hiding (again) on an ankle rocket)

'Time Trap' is by Tim Perkins (signature just visible in the bottom of frame one)

Then 'Forecast' is by Steve Ditko. I'll say that again, Steve Ditko. I can't think of any other independent British comic that featured his art. It's only 3 pages, but there you go.

Next up is Michael Slattery's contribution to the issue

Then we have the unattributed 'Arctic attack' - update 01/07/19...Tim Perkins has left a comment saying that this is his work

And all rounded off by 'The Monsters' by Michael Fleisher.

Centurions Power Xtreme monthly - issue 7

After all the British talent in issue 6 there is an enviable array of reprint talent in this issue...
Looks like another Will Simpson cover to me (although I can't see a signature anywhere)

Michael Slattery (artist on this title) has advised that this is by Tim Perkins

Unbelievably, Joe Kubert then gets 3 pages of his art in...this is from 1980 and I'm amazed to see it, I can't think of any other independent British comic to ever feature his art. If I'm wrong please let me know :)

'Life in outer space' is written by the legendary Marv Wolfman, again I can't think of any other independent British comic to ever feature his work, If I'm wrong please let me know :)

 Art by Michael Slattery (albeit unsigned)

And then just to round things off we get some Brian Bolland art! This is from 'Mystery in Space' 1980-81. So unexpected to find this here.